It’s therefore difficult to pinpoint exactly which scenes (and, for that matter, lines) are his best. After all, this is the Jedi who single-handedly took down Darth Maul, killed General Grievous, and managed to best Darth Vader multiple times. However, when looking at his scenes from across the Star Wars timeline to identify his very best, these 7 rise to the top.
7) Obi-Wan’s Mos Eisley Cantina Scuffle
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm
Coming in at number seven is one of the first scenes Obi-Wan ever had, in A New Hope (originally just called Star Wars). Specifically, as Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan begin their journey to save Princess Leia, they enter Mos Eisley Cantina, and despite Obi-Wan warning Luke that he would never find “a more wretched hive of scum and villainy,” Luke apparently wasn’t careful enough, as he angers someone at the bar, leading to a scuffle.
Audiences then got to see a lightsaber in actual action for the very first time, with Obi-Wan cutting that individual’s arm off. In addition to this being a now-iconic scene, this scene makes the top 7 because it set a massive Star Wars trend that continues to this day. If this franchise loves one thing, it’s taking someone’s hand/arm off.
6) Obi-Wan Versus Maul In Star Wars Rebels
Next up is Obi-Wan’s final confrontation with Darth Maul, in Star Wars Rebels. Maul was the first major foe Obi-Wan fought on screen—chronologically, rather than release order—and he had seemed to kill him in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Yet, The Clone Wars revealed that Maul had somehow survived their battle, even with his legs being cut off, and he was back for revenge.
This led to Maul’s long-running quest for revenge on Kenobi, which began on The Clone Wars and finally ended in Rebels, when Maul found Obi-Wan on Tatooine, challenged him to a duel, and once again lost, this time for good. What makes this scene so special is that Obi-Wan doesn’t seem angry. He actually essentially cradles Maul as he dies, showing that he is still the incredible Jedi he always was.
5) The Vader Showdown in Obi-Wan Kenobi
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm
Obi-Wan Kenobi got (frankly, too much) heat when it was released, with audiences complaining that it wasn’t necessary, didn’t focus enough on the titular lead, etc. However, the show brought viewers some of the best scenes in Star Wars, particularly the final battle between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. In it, audiences got to see some incredible dueling and immense power in the Force.
Arguably more affecting, though, was what this meant for closure between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan managed to crack half of Vader’s mask, just as Ahsoka Tano once had in Rebels. For Obi-Wan, this led to a moment in which he sincerely apologized “for everything,” but he was met with an odd and unexpected reassurance from Vader that Anakin wasn’t killed by Obi-Wan; he was killed by Vader. This provided Obi-Wan with critical closure and led perfectly into A New Hope.
4) “These Aren’t the Droids You’re Looking For”
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
Yet another A New Hope moment, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s iconic line, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” comes within a larger, also iconic scene, in which Obi-Wan sets a massively important precedent for the Star Wars franchise: the Jedi mind trick. He delivers this line because he is convincing the stormtroopers to let them go. This established one of the most well-known Force powers in Star Wars, which continues to be a major power today.
In fact, even as the powers of the Jedi have grown throughout Star Wars movies and shows, the Jedi mind trick has had staying power perhaps rivaled only by the Jedi’s ability to lift and move things and Darth Vader’s Force choke.
3) Obi-Wan’s Death at The Hands of Darth Vader
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm
While tragic, Obi-Wan’s death in A New Hope is also one of his top 7 scenes, particularly because of what it shows about his character. Audiences now know that Obi-Wan had multiple face-offs with Anakin/Vader ahead of this scene, including his battle with Anakin on Mustafar in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and the previously mentioned Obi-Wan Kenobi duel. Consistently, Obi-Wan bested Anakin in fights.
His death in A New Hope still did not reflect Vader defeating Obi-Wan. Instead, Obi-Wan let himself be killed and became one with the Force. He even warned Vader that if he struck him down, he would become more powerful than Vader could imagine, referencing the fact that he would become a Force Ghost. This was really the perfect way for Obi-Wan to go out: at the hands of Vader, but still on his own terms and in a way that demonstrates he was a true Jedi.
2) The Duel of the Fates
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
It’s no secret that the Duel of the Fates battle between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace is one of the best duels in Star Wars and one of the best scenes in the whole franchise. It should therefore be unsurprising that this is one of Obi-Wan’s very best scenes as well.
This is, of course, brilliantly choreographed, and it never gets any less cool to watch (and the song certainly adds to that). However, this is also a pivotal event for Obi-Wan, and it’s perhaps the moment that he truly becomes a full-fledged Jedi Knight, as he both destroys a Sith and sees his Jedi Master die in front of him. It’s also some of the best dueling we see from Obi-Wan, although one scene beats it.
1) The Battle on Mustafar
The single best Obi-Wan Kenobi scene in Star Wars is his duel with Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith. In addition to being one of the best duels in the whole franchise, for its setting as much as its lightsaber skills, this is also the emotional climax of the entire prequel trilogy.
The weight of former master and apprentice—and, arguably even more importantly, best friends—now dueling to the death is devastating, and it is quite possibly the single most important event in Anakin and Obi-Wan’s shared timeline. It’s also peak Obi-Wan fighting. He leaves the Chosen One, now emboldened by the dark side, as a limbless, burnt husk of a person, after all.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
